1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to safety footwear and in particular to a light weight, flexible, safety shoe having interlocking bands for encasing the metatarsal portion of a foot.
2. Description of Related Art
Persons working in occupations such as warehousing, fire prevention, police protection, transportation and construction often incur foot injuries. Foot injuries are often the worst type of injury and particularly an injury of the metatarsal area. Metatarsal injuries do not heal completely, and ankle injuries on many occasions require fusion in order to alleviate pain. It should be noted that the ankle joint is not replaceable, unlike a shoulder, knee and hip joint.
The most common softer shoe used in industry has been a work shoe having a steel toe cap. This type of shoe has protected the feet of the wearer against certain types of injury and the wearing of such shoes is required in many industries. A very good shoe however, should provide total protection to the toe, metatarsal, heel and ankle of the foot.
In the prior art various approaches have been taken to protect the foot or a portion of the foot from injury. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,900 issued Jun. 5, 1951 to S. S. Roberts, a footwear safety guard for a shoe is disclosed comprising a toe cap, a spring fastened underneath the top of the toe cap, a main cover partially mounted on the toe cap having reinforcing ribs, and means for limiting the longitudinal movement of the guard on the footwear which comprises a belt attached to the main cover on each side and attached to a buckle behind the shoe. This approach to protect the feet is somewhat cumbersome.
Another approach to protecting the instep is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,170 issued Nov. 4, 1980 to Frank B. Griswold. A safety shoe instep of compound curvature conforming generally to the shape of the human instep is disclosed. It is constructed as an integral part of the shoe or secured to the toe adjacent at least the lower end of the guard extending upwardly from the region of the toes. The guard includes a plurality of elongated generally arched-shaped rigid strips extending transversely of the instep and are articulated together in overlapping relation to provide an armored protector assembly having sufficient flexibility to permit normal use and movement of the shoe. Although this safety shoe does provide sure protection to the instep, it is a bulky approach to a safety boot.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,761, issued Apr. 14, 1987 to Ronald D. Lord, a footwear reinforcement is disclosed comprising a toe cap portion and rearwardly of the toe cap portion a series of longitudinally-spaced transversely extending curved ribs which extend from one side of the reinforcement to the other. The reinforcement may be made of high impact plastic such as polycarbonated resin. The reinforcement may be embedded in a molded rubber or soft plastic boot during its manufacture by injection molding. However, this reinforcement does not provide total protection to the feet.
Accordingly, it is therefore an object of this invention to provide a safety shoe to protect against foot injuries and in particular to provide a safety shoe that protects the complete foot and especially the metatarsal area.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved safety shoe by encircling the foot with flexible plastic interlocking bands.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shoe with an outer flat sole.
It is another object of this invention to provide a shoe with a dense foam insert to provide a proper fit and comfort to the foot.
The objects are further accomplished by providing a safety boot for protecting a human foot having an inner sole and an outer sole with a toe protector on a front end and a heal protector on a rear end, the improvement comprising shell means for protecting the foot, the shell means having a shape generally conforming to the human foot, comprising interlocking bands extending transversely from the toe protector and upward along a metatarsal area of the foot, an upper portion of the shell means extending beyond the interlocking bands and surrounding an ankle of the foot, dense foam insert means inserted in the shell means for encasing the human foot and providing a snug, comfortable fit, and closure means positioned across a rear opening of the shell means to secure the foot in the boot. The interlocking bands curve downward near the edges of the outer sole and wrap under so as to rest on top of the outer sole. The boot comprises means for allowing dissipation of moisture positioned between the interlocking bands and the dense foam insert means. Each of the interlocking bands of the shell means comprises a curved outer ridge at a first upper end of the bands making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the bands in the direction of the toe protector and an inner ridge positioned on the inner side of the bands approximately two-thirds of the distance from the first upper end of the band and making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the bands in the direction of the heal protector. The outer ridge of the bands interlocks with the inner ridge of the adjacent bands. The shell means comprises a thermoplastic such as a polycarbonated resin for providing strength to the shell means.
The objects are further accomplished by providing a safety boot comprising an outer sole, first protecting means secured to a forward end of the outer sole for protecting toes of a human foot, second protecting means secured to a rear end of the outer sole for protecting a heal of the foot, shell means for protecting the foot, the shell means having a shape generally conforming to a human foot comprising interlocking bands extending transversely from the first protecting means and upward along a metatarsal area of the foot, an upper portion of the shell means extending beyond the interlocking bands and surrounding an ankle of the foot, an inner sole means positioned in the boot resting on a lower portion of the heal protecting means, and a lower portion of the toe protecting means for providing foot comfort, dense foam insert means inserted in the shell means for encasing the human foot and providing a snug, comfortable fit, and means positioned between the bands and the dense foam insert means for allowing dissipation of moisture. The interlocking bands curve downward near the edges of the outer sole and wrap under the inner sole so as to rest on top of the outer sole. Each of the interlocking bands of the shell means comprises a curved outer ridge at a first upper end of the bands making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the bands in the direction of the first protecting means and an inner ridge positioned on the inner side of the bands approximately two-thirds of the distance from the first upper end of the band and making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the bands in the direction of the second protecting means. The outer ridge of the bands interlocks with the inner ridge of the adjacent bands. The upper portion of the shell means comprises a rear opening means extending from the top of the upper portion to approximately midway to a top of the heal protecting means for enabling a foot to enter and exit from the safety boot. The rear opening means comprises means for closing the shell means to secure the foot in the safety boot. The shell means comprises a polycarbonated resin means for providing strength to the shell means.
The objects are further accomplished by a method of providing a safety boot for protecting a human foot comprising the steps of providing an outer sole, protecting toes of a foot with first protecting means secured to a forward end of the outer sole, protecting a heal of the foot with second protecting means secured to a rear end of the outer sole, protecting the foot with shell means having a shape generally conforming to the human foot and comprising interlocking bands extending transversely from the toe protecting means and upward along a metatarsal area of the foot, an upper portion of the shell means extending beyond the interlocking bands and surrounding an ankle of the foot, providing foot comfort with an inner sole means positioned in the boot resting on a lower portion of the heal protecting means and a lower portion of the toe protecting means, encasing the human foot with dense foam insert means inserted in the shell means to provide a snug, comfortable, fit, and dissipating moisture within the safety boot with means positioned between the interlocking bands and the dense foam insert means. The step of protecting the foot with shell means comprises the step of the interlocking bands curving downward near the edges of the outer sole and wrapping under to rest on top of the outer sole. The step of protecting the foot with shell means having interlocking bands comprises the step of providing a curved outer ridge at a first upper end of the interlocking bands making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the interlocking bands in the direction of the first protecting means and providing an inner ridge positioned on an inner side of the interlocking bands approximately two-thirds of the distance from the first upper end of the bands and making approximately a forty-five degree angle with the bands in the direction of the second protecting means. The step of providing the curved outer ridge and the inner ridge of the adjacent bands enables interlocking of the adjacent bands. The method comprises the step of providing a rear opening in the upper portion of the shell means extending from the top of the upper portion to approximately midway to a top of the heal protecting means for enabling the foot to enter and exit from the safety boot. The step of providing a rear opening in the upper portion of the shell means comprises the step of closing the rear opening with means recessed within the upper shell means. The step of protecting the foot with shell means comprises the step of using a polycarbonated resin means for providing strength to protect the foot.